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When Paul talks about those who care for the church, he uses the term episkopos or “overseer” (1 Tim. 3:1). And when he tells Titus to appoint leaders in Crete who will give doctrinal instruction to the local church, he uses the term presbyteros or “elder.” How do these terms relate, and are they different from the term “pastor” (from poimen)?
I want to show that the terms “pastor” and “elder” and “overseer” all refer to the same position.
Let’s start in Titus 1. Paul tells Titus to “appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Titus 1:5). He then gives qualifications for elders and explains it this way: “For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach” (1:7). In Titus 1, an overseer is not different from an elder. An elder is someone who exercises oversight, and they must be biblically qualified.
Let’s go to Acts 20. In Acts 20:17, Paul “sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.” The Ephesian elders arrive, and Paul told them, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). In Acts 20, Paul calls these Ephesians elders overseers because they exercise oversight in the Ephesian church.
Let’s consider 1 Timothy 3. Paul lists the character qualifications for “overseers” (1 Tim. 3:1–7), and he gives parallel qualifications for “elders” in Titus 1:5–9. In 1 Timothy, the terms for “elder” and “overseer” are interchangeable. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:3 the “overseer” must be able to teach, and in 5:17 those who labor in teaching are called “elders.”
The evidence we’ve been gathering from Paul’s words in Acts 20 and from his letters (1 Timothy and Titus) suggests that he uses the terms “elder” and “overseer” interchangeably. An elder is an overseer, and an overseer is an elder.
What about outside Paul’s teachings? Can we confirm the interchangeability of these terms from another author?
Let’s look at Peter’s writings. In 1 Peter 5:1–3, Peter wrote, “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”
That quote from 1 Peter 5 reveals that, according to Peter, the “elders” are those who “exercise oversight” (and thus are overseers). And did you notice the pastoring language? It’s shepherding language. The elders are to “shepherd” (or pastor) the flock of God, exercising oversight. Pastoring is the work of an overseer. Pastoring is what elders do over the flock that has been entrusted to them.
The noun “pastor” (poimen) appears in Ephesians 4:11 where Paul says that God has given “the shepherds and teachers” to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (4:11–12). The other occurrences of this term in the New Testament refer to actual shepherds (like in Luke 2) or to Jesus our shepherd (like in John 10). The article “the” precedes the terms “shepherds” and “teachers” and can render the understanding as “shepherd-teachers” or “pastor-teachers.” I think this understanding is correct, and it fits with the role and responsibilities of elders and overseers that Paul and Peter wrote about elsewhere.
Drawing together the biblical evidence from 1 Timothy, Titus, Acts, 1 Peter, and Ephesians, we can reasonably conclude that an elder is an overseer, that an overseer is a pastor, and that a pastor is an elder. The apostles use these notions interchangeably for the role and responsibilities of church leaders.